Employing SDR for International Public Safety
Résumé
We report in this paper some initial results generated from an integration exercise held in October of 2011 in Munich (Germany) at the Rohde & Schwarz premises using Software Defined Radios (SDRs) for actual public safety applications. The SDR technology is being produced to benefit the International Public Safety Community, and partly funded by the European Commision (EC) under the Framework 7 programme. Specifically, this project is called EULER (EUropean SDR for wireless in joint security) operations. Project EULER is bringing together a number of European Industries and Acedemia for maturing the aspect of SDR with security, as would be necessary for rapid and international communication. EULER has given rise to the initial effort to forge together an international collaborative effort, which is yielding a SDR approach with the additional matter of integrated networks. The underlying technology is SDR, with, some of the networks using conventional Standards such as TETRA and WiMAX and there is some Ethernet wired network connectivity. This approach has been necessary to yeild a practical realisation of an SDR network, which can then augment elements of the ensuing network to yeild a more ubiqutious SDR solution, perhaps in a EULER 2 system. Whilst the offering in EULER is a SDR network, a number of platform and waveform innovations can be seen, which are elements of an SDR system that is necessary for briding a wireless network together to enable international public safety. We report in this paper upon these innovations and the progress made to this date. The public safety community is perceived to be TETRA based, which offers a low data rate, order of tens of kilobits/s, and is used mainly for voice communications. The TETRA system offers a level of security, as would be expected for delivering Public Safety. Clearly, Public Safety has now evolved to a need for secure widerband communications (order of Mbps); to enable Video, Data and Assured Multilevel Services to be used. EULER is enabling a High Data Rate (HDR) waveform (WF) to connect together a number of public safety communities through briding the various TETRA networks; the EULER WF (EWF) has been produced for linking together a number of Public Safety Communities for HDR services for a Line of Sight (LOS) network. We briefly discuss the EWF Backbone verification and testing which has been generated on a number of SDR systems including the Thales Internet Protocol BaseBand (IPBB) platform and the Astrium Proteus SDR system. In addition, the network links together a real-time, in threate situational awareness via the use of both the EWF and the WiMAX System, which is being supplied by Cassidian, to brige to the TETRA. There is a Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) element being supplied by Astrium which offers a minimum of two WFs running on an Astrium SDR system, Proteus, to cater for interference - like in a situation similar to an earthquake which may give rise to rouge radio transmission. It is envisaged that, from an operational standpoint, the scenario mentioned here will allow the formation of a Common Operational Picture (COP) using both HDR LOS and BLOS services within an SDR environment, to allow multi-level and secure operation facilitating a rapid formation of an infrastrucure for the Public Safety Community. Whereas the conventional form of BLOS is the provision of reachback for SATCOM, mandating a single disaster zone relative to the BLOS scheme, here it is assumed that a potential exists for a double disaster zone; the second being a consequence of the human displacement following the initial disaster. This scenario implies a need for a HDR capability on both sides of the BLOS link, mandating a need in this case for a WiMAX BS on either end of the BLOS link - implying a minimum of two BSs. The discussion provided in this paper details some of the EULER achievements at this Integration stage particularly as the network is validated giving rise to new realisations of connectivity and thus a new range of applications for the public safety community; the final demonstration will be held in the Netherlands in approximately April 2012.